A political union is a type of state which is composed of or created out of smaller states. The process is called unification. Unifications of states that used to be together and are reuniting is referred to as reunification. Unlike a personal union, the individual states share a central government and the union is recognized internationally as a single political entity. A political union may also be called a legislative union or state union.
A union may be effected in a number of forms, broadly categorized as:
Incorporating union
In an incorporating union a new state is created, the former states being entirely dissolved into the new state (albeit that some aspects may be preserved; see below "Preservation of interests").
Examples of incorporating union
Preservation of interests
Nevertheless a full incorporating union may preserve the (laws and institutions of the former states, as happened in the creating of the United Kingdom. This may be simply a matter of practice or to comply with a guarantee given in the terms of the union. For example:
Incorporating annexation
In an incorporating annexation a state or states is united to and dissolved in an existing state, whose legal existence continues.
Annexation may be voluntary or, which is more frequent, by conquest .
Examples of incorporating annexation
Federal or confederal union
In a federal or confederal union the states continue in existence but place themselves under a new federal authority. The federal state alone will be the state in international law though the federated states retain an existence in domestic law.
Examples of federal or confederal union
Federal or confederal annexation
If a state becomes a federated unit of another existing state, the former continuing its legal existence, then that is a federal annexation. The new federated state thus ceases to be a state in international law but retains its legal existence in domestic law, subsidiary to the federal authority.
Examples of federal annexation
(Arguably Hawaii with the United States of America is an example, but Hawaii was first annexed without statehood in 1898.)
Mixed unions
The unification of Italy involved a mixture of unions. The kingdom consolidated around the Kingdom of Sardinia. Several states voluntarily united with Sardinia to create the Kingdom of Italy. Others, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Papal States, were conquered and annexed.
The unification of Germany was ultimately a confederal union, but it began in earnest by Prussia's annexation of numerous petty states in 1866.
Historical unions
Unification movements
At various times, various nationalist and irredentist movements promoted ideas of restoration or unification in various places.
Reunification Movement
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Divided since
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Areas affected (at maximum extent)
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Commonwealth Union
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Earliest division in 1931
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Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
The Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Canada
Grenada
Jamaica New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Solomon Islands
Tuvalu
United Kingdom
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United States of Africa
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Never united
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Africa
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Greater Afghanistan
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1893
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Afghanistan part of Pakistan
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Greater Serbia
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1995
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Serbia
Macedonia
Montenegro
Croatia
Bosnia
Serbian Krajina
Republika Srpska
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Greater Syria
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Neo-Babylonian Empire "626 BC–539 BC"
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Syria
Lebanon
Iraq
Jordan
Northern Cyprus
Kuwait
Palestine
Israel
Cyprus part of Saudi Arabia part of Turkey part of Iran part of Egypt
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Greater Croatia
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1945
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Croatia
Bosnia
Serbia part of Montenegro
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Greater Bulgaria
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1918
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Bulgaria
Macedonia part of Serbia part of Greece
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Greater Albania
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1945
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Albania
Montenegro (Ulcinj, Plav, Rožaje and parts of Bar, Podgorica and Berane municipalities)
Serbia (Tutin and part of Bujanovac)
Kosovo (Whole territory except Northen and Southeastern parts)
Greece (Epirus)
Macedonia (Western parts of Polog and Southwestern regions, including Resen area)
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Balkan Federation
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Never united
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Serbia
Macedonia
Albania
Croatia
Montenegro
Slovenia
Bosnia
Bulgaria
Greece
Romania
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Russian Empire
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1917
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Russia
Ukraine
Belarus
Poland
Latvia
Lithuania
Finland
Estonia
Georgia
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Kazakhstan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Tajikistan
Moldova
Kyrgyzstan
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Arab Union
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1258
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Algeria
Bahrain
Comoros
Djibouti
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Palestine
Libya
Mauritania
Morocco
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
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Southeast Asian Union
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Never united
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Brunei
Burma
Cambodia
East Timor
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam
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Australia and New Zealand
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c. 1942
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Australia
New Zealand
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Greater Netherlands
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1839
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Belgium
Luxembourg
Netherlands
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United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
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1922
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United Kingdom
Republic of Ireland
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Central American Union
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1838
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Belize
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
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Central Asian Union
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1991
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Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Uzbekistan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
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Greater China
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1895, 1911, 1949
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People's Republic of China
Republic of China
Mongolia part of Russia
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Cyprus
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1974
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Cyprus
Northern Cyprus
Akrotiri and Dhekelia (dependency of United Kingdom)
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Czechoslovakia
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1992
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Czech Republic
Slovakia
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East African Federation
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Never united Rwanda and Burundi (1962); Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania (1919)
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Burundi
Kenya
Rwanda
South Sudan
Tanzania
Uganda
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United States of Europe
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Never united Carolingian Empire (888); Roman Empire (395)
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Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
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Greater Finland
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1940–1944
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Finland part of Russia
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North American Union
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1776
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Canada
Mexico
United States
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Greek reunification
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1202
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Greece
Cyprus
Turkey (Eastern Thrace,Western and Northwestern Asia Minor, Pontus, Cappadocia)
Bulgaria (Eastern Rumelia)
Albania (Northern Epirus including northern areas of Apollonia (Illyria), Vlorë and Berat)
Republic of Macedonia (Monastiri area including the northern city of Ohrid and area around Strumica and Gevgelija)
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Greater Hungary
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1920, 1945
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Hungary
Austria (Burgenland)
Croatia
Poland (parts of Tatra County)
Romania (Transylvania)
Serbia (Vojvodina)
Slovakia
Slovenia (Prekmurje)
Ukraine (Zakarpattia Oblast)
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Iberian Federation
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1580–1640
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Andorra
Portugal
Spain
Gibraltar (dependency of United Kingdom)
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Undivided India
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1947
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India
Bangladesh
Pakistan(excluding Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa)
Burma
Sri Lanka
Maldives
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United Ireland
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1922
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Republic of Ireland
Northern Ireland (part of United Kingdom)
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Korean reunification
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1945
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Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Republic of Korea
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Colombia
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1640
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Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
Uruguay
Venezuela
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Malaysia
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1965
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Singapore
Malaysia
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Greater Romania
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1944
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Moldova
Romania
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Union State
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1991
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Belarus
Russia
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Samoa
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1900
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Samoa
American Samoa
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Nordic Federation
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1523
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Denmark
Sweden
Norway
Iceland
Finland
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Transcaucasus
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1936
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Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia
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West Indies Federation
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1962
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Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Barbados
Cayman Islands
Dominica
Grenada
Jamaica
Montserrat
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
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Yugoslavia
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1992
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Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Macedonia
Montenegro
Serbia
Slovenia
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United Armenia
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1639, 1828
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Armenia
Turkey (Western Armenia)
Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Northern Artsakh and Nakhichevan)
Georgia(Javakhk)
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United Israel
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1948
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Israel
Palestine
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Supranational and continental unions
In addition to regional movements, supranational organizations that promote progressive integration between its members gained force in the end of the 20th century. Most of these organization are inspired on the European Union and, although most of the states are reluctant with it, the concept of unionism is often present.
Current supranational unions:
Proposed supranational unions:
Organizations that plan to evolve into supranational unions:
Academic analysis
The political position of the United Kingdom is often discussed;[3][4] and former states like Serbia and Montenegro (2003–2006), the Soviet Union (1922–1991) and the United Arab Republic (1958–1961).
Lord Durham was widely regarded as one of the most important thinkers in the history of the British Empire's constitutional evolution. He articulated clearly the difference between a full legislative union and a federation. In his 1839 Report, in discussing the proposed union of Upper and Lower Canada, he says:
Two kinds of union have been proposed – federal and legislative. By the first, the separate legislature of each province would be preserved in its present form and retain almost all its present attributes of internal legislation, the federal legislature exercising no power save in those matters which may have been expressly ceded to it by the constituent provinces. A legislative union would imply a complete incorporation of the provinces included in it under one legislature, exercising universal and sole legislative authority over all of them in exactly the same manner as the Parliament legislates alone for the whole of the British Isles.[5]
References
See also
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